Mack Labor Problems Were Key To Move, Says Official Official: Not Much Pa. Could've Done To Keep Mack

February 02, 1986|by STEPHEN DRACHLER, The Morning Call

Pennsylvania's highest ranking commerce official says there was little the state could have done to prevent Mack Trucks from deciding to build its new truck assembly facility in South Carolina.

Despite whatever incentives the state could offer, including $5 million for job retraining, State Commerce Secretary James Pickard said it was clear from the outset of his discussions with Mack officials that the key to the company's decision was its request for concessions from unionized workers at the main Allentown plant.

Mack announced on Jan. 22 that it would build a new truck assembly facility in rural Winnsboro, S.C. It would replace the 60-year-old 5-C manufacturing plant in Allentown that the company wants to replace with a state-of-the-art facility.

South Carolina was chosen after officials from the United Auto Workers union, which represents the 1,800 workers at the Allentown plant, could not come to agreement with Mack on the wage, benefit and work rule concessions the company was seeking. No vote on the concessions was ever taken by Allentown- based union members.

Pickard said he was convinced in October, when Mack publicly announced it was going to replace the 5-C plant, that "this was essentially a labor- management problem, and unless it was resolved, there was very little state government could do to hope to keep (Mack) here."

State contacts with Mack management, notably company president John B. Curcio, began about six months ago, before there was any public word the company was looking a site for the new assembly plant, Pickard said during a Friday interview in his Capitol complex office.

"We had heard rumbles early on, before it became public," Pickard said, adding that he and Curcio had been in telephone contact several times before the Oct. 17 announcement that Mack was going to replace 5-C with a new facility.

Mack hopes to have the new facility opened by mid-1987. It is expected to employ 1,200 people and produce 70 trucks per day. The facility in Allentown, now employing 1,800 people, was producing 52 trucks per day at the time Mack announced it was going to replace it.

Pickard said the state reacted quickly to the company's request for an expedited decision on crucial air quality permits that would be needed before new plant could be built in Allentown, and the Commerce Department had offered Mack $5 million from the state's Customized Job Training program to retrain workers for the new facility.

The $5 million, Pickard said, was more than the company said it would need for job retraining.

"We went with the $5 million, which was actually somewhat in excess of what they said they needed, simply to show our commitment," Pickard said.

In addition, a local task force, of government, business and community leaders, organized by Allentown Mayor Joseph S. Daddona, and aided by the Commerce Department, worked with the company to develop options for sites within a 50-mile radius of Allentown, and incentive packages for the sites.

"I point blank asked (Curcio) on three different occasions: 'Is there anything else state government can do to effect a positive answer from Mack? Is there a program? Is there a policy? You let me know,' " Pickard said.

"He responded in the negative on each of those occasions. The governor had direct communication with Mr. Curcio . . . He got the same answer, that there was nothing further the state could do. It came back to the labor- management situation.

"Mack said from the beginning - Curcio said from the beginning - that without certain approvals and changes in the labor-management contract, not just in wages, but in the work rules situation, there couldn't even be an examination, or a comparison, between Pennsylvania's attractiveness and another state.

"That had to be a given before the comparison situation ever began. We never got there," Pickard said.

Pickard's contention was backed up by Daddona, who said in an interview Friday that he was convinced the state had done "everything we needed to meet the other factors that could have influenced Mack to locate in Allentown or in Pennsylvania.

"I'm sure if you want to compare the state of South Carolina's offer to what Pennsylvania and Allentown was offering, we were as good, if not better," Daddona said.

Daddona said he wished Gov. Dick Thornburgh had played a larger leadership role in the process.

"I don't want to take anything away from Secretary Pickard and his staff. It turns out we were dealing with governors of other states. Maybe that made a difference psychologically. I don't know. It might not have made a difference in the numbers.

"It might just be the governor's style. I don't want to criticize him. He did make available Secretary Pickard, staff members, and assured full cooperation," Daddona said.

Pickard responded to suggestions that perhaps Thornburgh and the state should have taken a more active role.